As though anybody really cares.

about Joe the Plumber again. Ever.

Here's the nutshell of his conversation with Obama:

""I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes 250 to 280 thousand dollars a year," Wurzelbacher said. "Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?""

If a guy in Ohio can't be successful netting $250k+ *plumbing* *business* under Obama's tax plan, than he should hang up his wrench. (I respect plumbers: I ned plumbers. But $250k for a "trade" is good money, especially in relatively-low-cost areas of the country like the midwest. And plumbing isn't exactly a risky trade: everyone has running water, so everyone will, eventually, need a plumber. Unless they are themselves a plumber.)

But I suspect "Joe the Plumber" either has problems with basic math, or he is a GOP plant.

and he commented on how mean John McCain was. He was just yucky, again.

..and full 'o shit.

"Out of the mouths of babes..." I love it!

I thought McCain actually had his best performance, but he didn't do enough. If he hadn't bumbled around on his points he would have won convincingly.

HOWEVER, I think people were looking for someone that looked presidential, and McCain did not. I wanted Obama to fight back harder but I think he went with the smart move and didn't take any chances.

So I don't think anything changed overall. McCain may have earned a few people but nothing that will change anything substantially.

I confess I stopped watching after an hour because I was sick of McMean's whining and kvetching.

Sure there's going to be alot of repitition of McCain's " I am not George Bush...", but I really thought that Obama's statement about Mccain's infatuation with William Ayers "...says more about you than it does about me." Other than that McCain just seemed agitated and not all that focussed. Enrgized maybe. But not in a good way...

McCains handlers told him to comeback with a solid response to every Obama answer (ie dont give Obama any ground) and everytime he did, it seems like he didn't know what to say....its like he forgot and fizzled...for example...when Obama called him out for not restraining the name calling and vengefulness... that rambling he did about veterans with caps and honor and Iraq and Vietnam .respectful people with caps.......where was he going with that???!

for McCain its like that feeling you know..of running to the restroom to take a dump and then losing the desire to take it once u get there.

But McCain warranted rage from me when he derided those high end insurance plans that covered things like "transplants".

Having spent over a month at City of Hope with my husband while he got his stem cell transplant, I was thankful for our insurance. Others there had already lost their jobs, their homes, one was facing bankruptcy, etc.

I was kind of feeling sorry for McCain and it exploded away at that point.

Screw him.

but the "health of the mother" moment complete with his off-kilter smirk and sarcastic tone -- topped off by the air quotes was a real mind-blower.

And there you have it folks, John McCain's priorities when it comes to pregnancy complications -- that happen more often than you would think. So the next time I have a woman with a prior history of postpartum cardiomyopathy who presents in heart failure with a subsequent pregnancy or severe pulmonary hypertension I guess I'll just have to tell her to tough it out because Senator McCain figures her life is expendable -- too bad for those other kids at home, I guess.

I hope someone has the balls to make that moment into a nice ad-- really shows the measure of the "man". Pathetic.

"I never want to hear about Joe the Plumber again. Ever."

Ditto.

Two quick thoughts.

First, I have mentioned elsewhere that the pro-choice moderate Republicans that I know well, especially wealthy men, have turned on McCain. Tonight they heard him press buttons - on Columbian Free Trade, school choice, "qualifications" being paramount for judges - he has not pressed before. It was also interesting to see the Luntz group on Fox. They all seemed to think Obama won; but then the men (who thought he won) said it doesn't matter, Obama is an empty suit and they don't trust him; and then the women said they were more inclined to support Obama. That suits my theory, actually; Hillary-ites are a lost cause for McCain, but the men are still reachable.

And speaking of men, as a man, I thought this was a pretty testosterone charged performance for McCain. There are very few people out there who are going to match up well with McCain's eclectic ideology - how many people do you know who passionately believe in bipartisanship while detesting ethanol subsidies? But tonight, it didn't matter. McCain the man shone through. It's not exactly likeability, either, although there was enough of that. For me, it was more like respect. A lot of respect. This was the POW; the Andrew Jackson who detests corruption even if he rarely identifies it; the guy who waited eight years for his chance and is now fighting as best he can to claim a prize he clearly wants.

And dont' forget. Zogby this morning at 4. Gallup likely voters at 3. McCain can still win. Tonight was the first time I really *wanted* him to win, for his own sake (apart from my oft-stated admiration for his running mate).

tommydsz: "for McCain its like that feeling you know..of running to the restroom to take a dump and then losing the desire to take it once u get there."

I don't even know what that means, but it's hilarious.

So, who do you think is the big loser here?

"for McCain its like that feeling you know..of running to the restroom to take a dump and then losing the desire to take it once u get there."

Joe the Plumber might be able to help you with that.